The tax bill pro­posed by Repub­li­can lead­ers yes­ter­day scraps a ben­e­fit that many teach­ers have come to rely on: the $250 “edu­ca­tor expense deduc­tion,” which can be used to recoup the cost of class­room materials.

K-​12 teach­ers who spend money out-​of-​pocket on books, sup­plies, pro­fes­sional devel­op­ment courses, and com­puter equip­ment and soft­ware for their class­rooms can claim the deduc­tion each year, accord­ing to the IRS. Health and phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion teach­ers can also use it for ath­letic sup­plies. Coun­selors, prin­ci­pals, and aides who incurred such expenses can claim the deduc­tion as well. In 2015, Con­gress extended the ben­e­fit indefinitely.

Teach­ers spend about $530 of their own money on class­room items, accord­ing to a 2016 nation­ally rep­re­sen­ta­tive sur­vey from Scholas­tic. In high-​poverty schools, they spend about 40 per­cent more — an aver­age of $672.

As a teacher this irri­tates me.

I spend much more than that each year on my stu­dents to ensure they have the most basic mate­ri­als nec­es­sary for class. I ven­ture to say that I spend $250 along just on note­book paper and pen­cils. Every year before school starts I go online to the mis­print pen­cil place and order four boxes of mis­printed pen­cils and then I go on Ama­zon and order large quan­ti­ties of note­book paper. If I’m lucky these will last until the end of the year.

On top of that I buy boxes of Kleenix, pens, crayons, mark­ers, col­ored pen­cils, art paper, and spi­ral notebooks.

The tax bill proposed by Republican leaders yesterday scraps a benefit that many teachers have come to rely on: the $250 “educator expense deduction,” which can be used to recoup the cost of classroom materials.

K-12 teachers who spend money out-of-pocket on books, supplies, professional development courses, and computer equipment and software for their classrooms can claim the deduction each year, according to the IRS. Health and physical education teachers can also use it for athletic supplies. Counselors, principals, and aides who incurred such expenses can claim the deduction as well. In 2015, Congress extended the benefit indefinitely.

Teachers spend about $530 of their own money on classroom items, according to a 2016 nationally representative survey from Scholastic. In high-poverty schools, they spend about 40 percent more—an average of $672.

As a teacher this irritates me.

I spend much more than that each year on my students to ensure they have the most basic materials necessary for class. I venture to say that I spend $250 along just on notebook paper and pencils. Every year before school starts I go online to the misprint pencil place and order four boxes of misprinted pencils and then I go on Amazon and order large quantities of notebook paper. If I’m lucky these will last until the end of the year.

On top of that I buy boxes of Kleenix, pens, crayons, markers, colored pencils, art paper, and spiral notebooks.

1) There’s already a unreimbursed business/job related deduction. I know I spend several orders of magnitude more than the average teacher on things to make it easier to do my job.
2) Schools around here send out supply lists for students to bring in (and share), this includes all of the things you mentioned that your purchase on your own.
3) Maybe the NEA or whichever local flavor you have should be pushing this instead of the normal political claptrap. I know I wouldn’t work for an employer that didn’t provide all necessary materials.
4) Considering the pension problems in my state and the teacher’s union being literally the biggest obstacle to fixing the problem, I’m disinclined to care about teacher’s being “forced” to spend their own money to buy some supplies.